Comments on: 20 bucks a day

Question: 20 bucks a day

Marla Singer — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 15:48:14 -0800

How much does $98 in 1948 dollars (US) equal in 2006 dollars?

That was the cost of a five-day hospital stay when my grandmother gave birth to my mother. More generally, is there any resource on the net that will translate "(x) many (year1) dollars" to "(y) many (year2) dollars"?

By: sanko

sanko — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 15:50:35 -0800

http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

By: Marla Singer

Marla Singer — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 15:57:42 -0800

Awesome! Thank you, that's now bookmarked. For those who may be wondering, it comes out to $810.74, or $162.15 per day. (And my grandparents paid out of pocket.)

By: takeyourmedicine

takeyourmedicine — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 15:59:51 -0800

Also:

In 2005, $98.00 from 1948 is worth:

$794.89 using the Consumer Price Index
$674.51 using the GDP deflator
$1,417.26 using the unskilled wage
$2,237.97 using the nominal GDP per capita
$4,534.43 using the relative share of GDP

By: Marla Singer

Marla Singer — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 16:07:59 -0800

The more thorough answer is, of course, the more bewidering. But thank you, I've bookmarked that site as well.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 16:08:45 -0800

Holy crap! That's a hell of thing to wrap your head around.

By: milkrate

milkrate — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 18:56:12 -0800

If you are wondering what the hospital stay would cost today, you'd want to use only the medical care series, like this, which is (336 [today's deflator] * $98 [dollars then]/14 [1948 deflator]) = $2,352. If you are wondering just what $98 is worth today, then it's closer to the income/wage series.

By: iurodivii

iurodivii — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 19:14:28 -0800

So the next logical question would be: How much does a five day hospital stay for a birth cost today? I am not a parent, but i'd guess it would be more than any of the numbers quoted here...

By: Bitstop

Bitstop — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 19:23:39 -0800

Not to totally derail from the original query, but multiple-day hospital stays for uncomplicated births were normal in the 1940s. Today, a normal birth results in a 1-2 day stay; a C-section is 3-4 days typically.

By: capcuervo

capcuervo — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 19:26:53 -0800

According to the inflation calculator:

What cost $98 in 1948 would cost $810.74 in 2005.

Also, if you were to buy exactly the same products in 2005 and 1948, they would cost you $98 and $11.85 respectively.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 06:25:24 -0800

Did you not bother to read the first two comments?